12 greatest Grammy blunders

February 7, 2013 11:23 PM

Photo: MARK J. TERRILL/AP

Image 1of/13

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 13

Milli Vanilli wins Best New Artist (1990): The biggest mistake Best New Artist nominees Neneh Cherry, the Indigo Girls, Soul II Soul and Tone Loc made was actually performing their own music. No such problem for category winners Milli Vanilli, the manufactured German duo whose only contribution to their album was showing up for the cover shoot. less

Milli Vanilli wins Best New Artist (1990): The biggest mistake Best New Artist nominees Neneh Cherry, the Indigo Girls, Soul II Soul and Tone Loc made was actually performing their own music. No such problem ... more

Jethro Tull beats Metallica (1989): After years of anticipation, the very first Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance went to... Jethro Tull! The band didn't even bother to show up, on the advice of its record company that thought its flute laden Crest of a Knave album wouldn't have a chance against Metallica's thrash-metal masterpiece, And Justice for All. How wrong it was. less

Jethro Tull beats Metallica (1989): After years of anticipation, the very first Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance went to... Jethro Tull! The band didn't even bother to show up, on the advice of ... more

Eric Clapton beats Nirvana (1992): Think of the early '90s and you can't help but think of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit, easily one of the greatest rock songs ever. Not according to the members of the Recording Academy, who thought the year was better defined by an acoustic reworking of Eric Clapton's 1971 ballad Layla, recorded for a yawn-inducing episode of MTV Unplugged. less

Eric Clapton beats Nirvana (1992): Think of the early '90s and you can't help but think of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit, easily one of the greatest rock songs ever. Not according to the members of the ... more

Tony Bennett wins Album of the Year (1995): Nice guy, great voice. But did Bennett really deserve the the top prize for another run through the American Songbook (again for MTV Unplugged)? Not when the award could have gone to era-defining classics such as Green Day's Dookie, Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral, Hole's Live Through This, Jeff Buckley's Grace or Soundgarden's Superunknown. None of the above, incidentally, was even nominated. less

Tony Bennett wins Album of the Year (1995): Nice guy, great voice. But did Bennett really deserve the the top prize for another run through the American Songbook (again for MTV Unplugged)? Not when the award ... more

Photo: MARK J. TERRILL, AP

Tony Bennett wins Album of the Year (1995): Nice guy, great voice.... Photo-4157065.56456 - Houston Chronicle

Image 5 of 13

Celine Dion beats the Fugees (1997): The Fugees were responsible for one pop music's biggest crossover smashes with The Score, which was certified six times platinum. Grammy voters overlooked it to give the Album of the Year prize to Celine Dion's Falling Into You -- an album so nondescript even Celine Dion fans barely remember it. Also in the running that year? The Smashing Pumpkins' Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Beck's Odelay. less

Celine Dion beats the Fugees (1997): The Fugees were responsible for one pop music's biggest crossover smashes with The Score, which was certified six times platinum. Grammy voters overlooked it to give the ... more

The New Vaudeville Band beats basically anybody who mattered (1967): Given a choice of some of the greatest songs of the rock and roll era - The Beatles' Eleanor Rigby, Beach Boys' Good Vibrations, The Mamas & The Papas' Monday Monday, The Association's Cherish and Monkees' Last Train To Clarksville - the Grammy voters withered and gave the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Song to the New Vaudeville Band's novelty, '20s-style dance jingle Winchester Cathedral. A song literally nobody has ever heard since. less

The New Vaudeville Band beats basically anybody who mattered (1967): Given a choice of some of the greatest songs of the rock and roll era - The Beatles' Eleanor Rigby, Beach Boys' Good Vibrations, The Mamas & ... more

The New Vaudeville Band beats basically anybody who mattered... Photo-4157067.56456 - Houston Chronicle

Image 7 of 13

Herbie Hancock wins Album of the Year (2008): Amy Winehouse and Kanye West may have made the albums of their lives, but the Record Academy thought the Album of the Year belonged to jazz pianist Herbie Hancock's middling late career tribute to Joni Mitchell, River: The Joni Letters. Maybe it helped having hip, young guest vocalists like Tina Turner, Leonard Cohen and Norah Jones? less

Herbie Hancock wins Album of the Year (2008): Amy Winehouse and Kanye West may have made the albums of their lives, but the Record Academy thought the Album of the Year belonged to jazz pianist Herbie Hancock's ... more

Mary Poppins beats the Beatles (1964): If you had your finger on the pulse of popular music in the early '60s, you too would have seen the tides of change coming and picked the soundtrack for Mary Poppins, featuring a fictional singing nanny and chimney sweepers, over the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night for the Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture. Right? Anyone? less

Mary Poppins beats the Beatles (1964): If you had your finger on the pulse of popular music in the early '60s, you too would have seen the tides of change coming and picked the soundtrack for Mary Poppins, ... more

Baha Men win Best Dance Recording (2001): Baha Men's cover version of Who Let the Dogs Out? might sound fine between innings at a minor league baseball game but the best dance song in the year Daft Punk released One More Time and Madonna put out Music? Yes, according to the Grammy voters, who completely shut out the potential contenders. Woof. less

Baha Men win Best Dance Recording (2001): Baha Men's cover version of Who Let the Dogs Out? might sound fine between innings at a minor league baseball game but the best dance song in the year Daft Punk ... more

The Fresh Prince beats LL Cool J (1989): After facing a boycott, the Grammys reluctantly decided to acknowledge hip-hop. But that didn't mean they were going to like it. In a slap to the face of their critics, the first award for Best Rap Performance went to DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince's goofy novelty hit, “Parents Just Don’t Understand.” The other nominees? LL Cool J's Going Back to Cali, Salt N Pepa's Push It, Kool Moe Dee's Wild Wild West and J.J. Fad's Supersonic. It was the start of a trend: In 1990, Young MC's Bust A Move handily defeated Public Enemy's Fight the Power. less

The Fresh Prince beats LL Cool J (1989): After facing a boycott, the Grammys reluctantly decided to acknowledge hip-hop. But that didn't mean they were going to like it. In a slap to the face of their critics, ... more

A Taste of Honey beats Elvis Costello (1978): The year Costello and the Cars arrived, portending long careers and the dawn of the new-wave era, the Recording Academy was still hung up on polyester suits and disco lights, giving the Best New Artist award to Boogie Oogie Oogie one-hit wonders A Taste of Honey. less

A Taste of Honey beats Elvis Costello (1978): The year Costello and the Cars arrived, portending long careers and the dawn of the new-wave era, the Recording Academy was still hung up on polyester suits and ... more

Steely Dan beats Radiohead and Eminem (2000): For music fans, it was a pretty stellar year. Not so much for members of the Recording Academy who passed over Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP and Radiohead's Kid A to hand the Album of the Year prize to Steely Dan's instantly forgettable Two Against Nature. Even Donald Fagen seemed chagrined. Or maybe that's just the way he always looks. less

Steely Dan beats Radiohead and Eminem (2000): For music fans, it was a pretty stellar year. Not so much for members of the Recording Academy who passed over Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP and Radiohead's Kid ... more